Use bulb as a portfolio tool to showcase your work, share ideas, and ask for feedback. Sign up with your Google account or enter your email. Choose to keep your page public or private. After creating your account, click on the little question mark on the top menu to see how to set up a page, collections (multiple pages), groups (with or without Google), and lots more. Click on Explore, on the home page in the top menu bar, and look at projects students and teachers have created. bulb is easy to use due to its drag and drop interface. The free account includes one GB storage, one Group (class), unlimited pages, and collections. Besides creating text, you can embed images and videos, and integrate with your Google Drive.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use bulb for student portfolios in any subject. Set up an account with your teacher name, email, password, and some basic information. Once your account is set up, create a group, to invite students to join the group, type in their bulb username, email address or their Google account name. Share how to get around bulb on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector to get students started. Anyone you invite can publish to the group. However, students will also have their own account and can keep pages private. Science teachers could have students write up their lab reports in a portfolio, and history teachers could set up portfolios for student report writing. Have teens and older students upload work throughout the year to create their own "me-portfolios." Create portfolios (with permission) to share younger students' work with parents and students during conferences. Use this tool to show finished projects or to show changes in a project from start to finish. Make a work prototype site and upload examples of exemplary work to share with students to set expectations for completed products before beginning a project. Create a link to this tool on your class website for students to share projects and information. (Get parent permission before posting students' work!) Have students take ownership of their own portfolios to show progress and products across several years. Have older students build portfolios to share as part of career and college preparation. Art teachers will want to share this as a portfolio option for their students.

Awesome ScreenShot makes screen capture and annotation effortless! Click the camera icon, and Awesome Screenshot takes a snap of the whole page on your screen or any portion. You can also upload an image from your computer, drag and drop, or paste from your clipboard to your account. Annotate the picture with lines, text, and shapes. Crop or blur out sensitive information before saving or uploading the image. Save to your account or get the URL to share via email, on your web page, etc. You can download video as WebM files and upload videos to your YouTube or Google Drive account. This tool supports images in PNG or JPG format. Awesome ScreenShot is available on the web. It works with Windows, Linux, and iOS 10.9 or later. It is also available as an extension for Mozilla FireFox and Chrome. The free account includes one project, 30 images, and 30 screen recordings.

In the Classroom

Use this tool anytime you need to edit photos for use on class blogs, wikis, or in presentation tools. In primary grades, this tool can be useful for teachers to use to edit pictures from a field trip, science experiments, and more. Share the editing process with younger students using an interactive whiteboard or projector. Edit together! Encourage older students to use this site themselves on images for projects or presentations. Use this tool in photography or art classes. Use the editor to edit pictures to fit styles of pictures when doing historical reports or to set a mood. Use text options for the photos themselves to tell the stories. Have students annotate or label Creative Commons online images of cells, structures of an animal, and much more. Create screenshots showing how to do various computer tasks or navigate websites. Demonstrate how to use a website or software for specific tasks within the classroom. Make how-to demos for instructions on using and navigating your class home page, class wiki or blog, or other applications you wish the students to use in creating their own projects. By labeling how students should navigate through a certain site or section, you can eliminate confusion, provide an opportunity for students to review the information as a refresher for the future, and maintain a record for absent students. Social studies teachers could assign students to critique a political candidate's web page using a screenshot. Reading/language arts teachers could have student teams analyze a website to show biased language, etc. Math teachers using software such as Geometer's Sketchpad could have students create their own demonstrations of geometry concepts as a review (and to save as future learning aids). As a service project, have students create "how to screenshots" to help elderly or less tech savvy computer users navigate the web, register to vote, or find important health information.

LanguageTool is a spelling and language checker for English, French, and more than 20 other languages. Copy and paste your text to check for spelling and grammatical errors. Use the drop-down boxes to change language preferences. LanguageTool also offers browser add-ons for installation on Chrome and Firefox, and add-ons for Google Docs, LibreOffice, and OpenOffice.

In the Classroom

Use this visual revision program with students who are ready to refine and improve their writing. Have students copy and paste writing projects into the text editor for a final check for spelling and grammar mistakes after making their last revisions. Continued use of a language checking tool helps students correct writing on their own after seeing common errors in their writing. Never send out a newsletter or post to your web page with spelling or grammar errors again! Use LanguageTool to spell check and suggest corrections for any published writing projects.

Teach or learn through high-quality online courses offered by the Open Learning Initiative. Choose from available courses in a variety of subjects for full course information including topics covered, estimated completion time, and software required. Classes are free for independent learning. Set up and teach your own course by registering for an instructor account. Instructor accounts allow members to access tools to assess student learning and provide credit for course completion.

In the Classroom

Take advantage of content in courses to supplement your current lessons. No registration is required to access and view course information. Share this site with gifted students or students with interests in specific academic areas not covered in your current curriculum. Create a course and offer it to your students for greater interaction and learning through community building. Find great ideas from other existing courses. Teachers of gifted can use courses to challenge students in their areas of interest. You can also have gifted students create or collaborate on a student-made "course." Explore the topics for some new, engaging topics to round out your own expertise. Allow students to enroll in a course that would fit into their career goals as an exploratory opportunity in that field. The Open Learning Initiative would also be perfect for setting up directions and steps for any projects you require students to do for your class. The program will integrate with some learning management systems.

Credo Reference is an extensive online research collection containing almost 900 online dictionaries, reference tools, and encyclopedias. Begin with a keyword search or by subject. Use the drop-down box to narrow search terms to include images, topic, books, or mind maps. Choose the advanced search option to limit searches to meet your defined inclusions. Although login isn't required; creating an account allows you to save, print, and share search results.

In the Classroom

Bookmark Credo Reference to use on all classroom computers as a reliable and hearty search engine. Be sure to include a link on your class webpage for student use at home. Demonstrate on your interactive whiteboard different methods of searching and appropriate use of each method. Have cooperative learning groups research a certain topic and share their resources using this tool. Remind students that they will need to give proper credit for any resource they use in their research! To either teach about or give students a review of plagiarism and citing sources, use a tool like Plagiarism.org, reviewed here.

The Baldwin Library of Historical Children's Literature is a digitized collection of a variety of children's literature from approximately 1896 to 1943. Use filters to narrow content by year, genre, publisher, and more. Some items in the collection offer different publications of the same text. Each thumbnail links to images includes the publication date and publisher information.

In the Classroom

Share older versions of children's classic books with students to compare with modern versions including print books and online videos. This literature collection is perfect for use with studies of the late 1800's and early 1900's as a primary source of information. For younger students or those with little technology experience, use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to compare different versions of texts. For older and more experienced technology students, use XMind, reviewed here, to make the comparisons of versions.

This interesting infographic takes viewers back to the first technology used in schools. Begin with Horn-Books from 1650, through slate and chalkboards introduced in 1890, and on through to 2010 with the introduction of iPads in classrooms.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Share this infographic with students as you demonstrate how technology has changed lives in different ways over many years. Use this as an example of an infographic, then have students create their own to demonstrate changes in vehicles over time, climate change, mobile phones, personal computers, or any number of changes over time. Create your infographics using Piktochart, reviewed here, or Easel.ly, reviewed here. Share this site during professional development sessions as an ice-breaker when introducing new classroom tools or websites.

Pixton Lesson Plans is the companion to Pixton, a comic strip creation site, reviewed here. Find lesson plans by subject, or use the search bar to perform a keyword search with a particular topic. Each lesson plan includes a teacher guide, examples, and correlation to standards when applicable. Import activities directly into your Pixton dashboard to begin use.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Information in the lesson plans isn't confined to use with Pixton, use ideas in the lesson plan collection to create your own lessons. After using several of the lessons, challenge students to create an online or printed comic about what they learned from any lesson (not a Pixton lesson) using the Pixton Lessons as a model. Alternatively, students could lead a class review or they could teach the class about something or someone they are researching using Pixton's comic strip format. First have students create a rough draft of their comic using Printable Comic Strip Templates, reviewed here. Students in grades 1-3 can create a simple comic using one or two characters with Comic Creator, reviewed here. For students in grades 4-12 have them create a comic strip using Write Comics, reviewed here.

This wiki is a multi-faceted jewel of a resource for teachers to use to find out about and start the Genius Hour model of instruction. Easily navigate the site by choosing topics from the links on the left side of the page under the search bar. Topics include background information, planning and managing, and the Genius Hour presentation slides and handout from ISTE 2015. The Resources page includes Rubrics, Google and Word docs for brainstorming, a self-assessment rubric, videos, exit slips, and more. Several other pages will also be helpful in the classroom.

In the Classroom

Share resources from the site during staff meetings to help further knowledge of Genius Hour benefits, techniques, and management. Divide the wiki into sections and have different staff members present on resources from various parts of the site. Consider creating a book study group for interested staff members.

Roadtrip Nation inspires young people to find their path in life by sharing how others found their life passion. PBS shares this journey through the eyes of participants as they interview leaders from many different career paths. Use links to watch thirteen seasons of the series, or choose the Roadtrips option to view interviews by locations. Explore the various trips by interest, themes, or music. High school students have the opportunity to participate in road trips by applying through the Roadtrip Nation website.

In the Classroom

Include Roadtrip Nation as part of your career exploration activities. Have cooperative learning groups create podcasts sharing information about their chosen career field. Encourage students to interview someone in that field either in person or online. Use a site such as PodOmatic, reviewed here.

Master five core principals of Internet safety through gameplay with Interland. Choose from four different lands to learn how to deal with phishers, hackers, over-sharers, and bullies. Interland is part of a larger Internet safety site from Google, Be Internet Awesome, reviewed here.

In the Classroom

Include Interland as part of any digital safety unit. Add a link to games on classroom computers for use as a center. Be sure to include a link on your class web page for students to play at home. Share this site with parents during Open House or Meet the Teacher sessions as a resource for teaching Internet safety at home. Have students or groups collect ideas and suggestions for staying safe on the web using Dotstorming, reviewed here. The Dotstorming application creates free online bulletin boards that can include comments and voting. Have students make a multimedia presentation sharing Internet safety advice using Genial.ly, reviewed here. Genial.ly allows you to add polls, videos, embeds, web links, PowerPoint, and PDFs.

Be Internet Awesome is a series of resources from Google to teach digital safety. Resources include Interland, reviewed here, an online interactive that offers users the opportunity to practice skills to combat phishers, hackers, and cyber bullies. The free curriculum, available for download, is best suited for grades 3-5; however, it is easily adaptable to other grade levels. Other features from the site include a teacher training course, an Internet safety poster, and certificates and badges for students. All features of this site align to ISTE Standards.

In the Classroom

Discover the many free resources for teaching digital safety offered on this site. Share a link on your class website for parents. Include the interactive game as part of a computer center during Internet safety lessons. Use the free lesson plan to teach digital safety either as a one-time unit or as mini-units throughout the school year. Have cooperative learning groups create podcasts discussing digital safety information. Use a site such as Buzzsprout, reviewed here, to create the podcasts.

Telegra.ph is a simple to use web publishing tool for even the most novice creators. Click and type to fill in the title, your name, and add content. Choose the camera icon to upload images from your computer or select the brackets to paste a YouTube, Vimeo, or Twitter link. When finished, click on the publish button. That is it! Your work is now online. Just copy the URL to share. Add or delete content at any time using the link to edit.

In the Classroom

Use this tool as an easy to use blogging tool in the classroom and in every subject area. Use in language arts classes to strengthen students' writing ability and 21st century skills. Teach about proper commenting etiquette on simple first blog posts. Use for student-written book reviews for the school library. Use as a tool for class or parent communication. Engage students in discussions on current events, independent reading, literature, and more. Ask students to play the role of a historical figure and write about their viewpoints or experiences. Use the site as a forum for any simulated or real task. Invite parents to join to give their points of view on upcoming elections or public policy issues by commenting on student posts. Share a blog in even the youngest of classes, for parents to use to learn about a specific unit of study, field trips, and more. Use this site in world language classes to have students write a blog entry in the new language. Include the principal or superintendent in class discussions of students' rights as you study the Constitution. Create incredible discussions of environmental, political, or economic issues. Create a standing assignment for elementary and middle schoolers on snow days. Have students write a post about the snow using Telegra.ph and share the url on a class wiki. Post the various links on the class web page so students can comment on each other's posts after they come in from sledding.

Add a voiceover to any YouTube video or video on your computer choosing from 15 different voices and 13 languages with Text2VoiceOver. Select the "Create VoiceOver Now!" button to begin, then choose from options to select your video. Once the video loads, select the location for your voiceover and follow directions for adding text and choosing from voice options. Be sure to watch the tutorial video with complete instructions for using the site and generating your voiceover. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable. You could always view them at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as Freemake Video Converter, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use Text2VoiceOver to add comments and instructions to any YouTube video your students view. Share specific tips, ask questions, or add additional details to content. Have students create a voiceover to share their thoughts on a video, or ask questions to clarify content.

Do you need sound effects to spice up a presentation? SoundGator contains a large variety of free audio sound effects for personal use. Search for any sound, or use categories to browse through available files. Click any file to preview the file, then choose from options for use. Share via email, copy the embed code for use on web pages, or download to your computer. Downloading and sharing requires registration on the SoundGator site.

In the Classroom

Use the many files on SoundGator to add interest to multimedia presentations and as part of your digital storytelling needs. To create a digital story use a tool like Microsoft Photo Story 3, reviewed here. Find a large variety of tools for multimedia presentations at TeachersFirst Edge tools, reviewed here.''''?Choose an interesting sound to share with students as a creative writing story starter. If your students enjoy creating podcasts and videos, share this site as an excellent resource for adding interest and drama to their presentations.

Collect, organize, and share your web bookmarks with Buttons. Buttons works across platforms making bookmarks available on all devices. Add notes and sort items into groups to make finding information easier. Buttons free plan limit the number of "webmarks" per button and the number of buttons available per user, be sure to check the plan link for complete information.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Create a class account to organize and share bookmarks for any unit. Invite students to share bookmarks to include. Have older students set up and share their own curated bookmarks for research projects using Button. Encourage your gifted students to curate collections of media and articles above the level of current curriculum or for individual research on related topics they are interested in. Share these "advanced" collections with all students to spark personal learning.

This site provides a selection of royalty free music for use in YouTube videos or personal projects. Download any file in WAV format following the directions provided on the site. The files offered include a wide variety of genres, just click play to preview. Should you need to provide proof that you have the right to use the music, download the signed PDF authorization included on Royalty Free Music.

In the Classroom

Play musical selections for students to "name the instrument" or talk about musical elements and styles in music class. Have partners explore the site to find examples of different rhythms or styles they prefer. Use Royalty Free Music for soft background music during quiet work times in your classroom. Share with students for use in multimedia presentations. Try sharing this resource with students when they are creating podcasts, slideshows, and other media projects. This would also be great for performance groups such as drama clubs or musicals that need background music. Use background music for poetry readings during poetry month. Challenge students to try to make a "sound rebus" story on your class wiki, with words and sound links to tell what happens. Download sound effects and add them, worry-free, to projects or productions. Make sure students realize that "royalty free" does not dismiss the need to give proper credit for their source!

Create Bingo cards quickly and easily with the Bingo Card Generator. Insert your title, add your list of words, then choose options to personalize the look of your Bingo Cards. When finished, select the option to print 30 free cards. One unique feature of this site allows users to play online, just share the link provided after choosing print. Players click on the called words on their online bingo card when given the link for the games.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Having the ability to play the Bingo game online is perfect for those who are beginning to integrate technology into their classroom. Use the Bingo Card Generator to create Bingo games to review any topic with small groups. Instead of saying the word that is on the Bingo card, give the definition (so students must find the term) or a math problem whose answer is among those on the card. Create sight word bingo cards for younger students and ESL/ELL students. Bingo is an excellent review tool for science or social studies. Put a short description of a vocabulary word into the space. Tell students the name of the vocabulary word and see if they can find it on the Bingo card. Encourage students to create bingo games for each other as a review or to engage the audience during oral presentations. Learning support teachers can create them together with students as an engaging way to review. World language teachers (and students) can create bingo cards to reinforce vocabulary.

This lesson for elementary students helps them to understand how reporters choose news stories, how they are shared, and will get students starting to think about asking good questions. If you are not in the position of taking a field trip to the News History Gallery at the Newseum, not to worry; they have their Today's Front Pages, reviewed here, online, too! The lesson provides standards and a PDF to download. The PDF contains all instructions, worksheets, the Passport, and a Certificate of Completion. Membership to NewseumEd is free. You need to register to become a member to have full access to this lesson.

In the Classroom

This lesson would work well when your class is talking about current world events, current events in science, or for a lesson on media reporting of news events. Once the class has completed World Reporter Passport, challenge small groups of students to extend their new skills by choosing a topic of interest and developing a news article about it. Students can use a site like Model Bank Elements of Language, reviewed here, to see how to write a proper news article. There is always the "traditional" paper and pen way to write the article. If you would like to try integrating technology in your class assignments, ask students to write their final product online using Printing Press, reviewed here. With Printing Press, individual articles will become part of a newspaper.

To further extend students' knowledge about their chosen topic and to get a "real world" point of view, they could interview a specialist in the topic using video or a podcast. Have students create podcasts using a site such as Buzzsprout, reviewed here.

Some ideas for finding people to interview would be to contact someone on Twitter, at a local nursing home, fire station, or museum to recollect times such as wars, the Great Depression, Civil Rights Movements, and more. To hone students questioning skills Refer to Story Corps, reviewed here. Once at StoryCorps click participate then Questions. You'll find tips on interview questions and an interview check list to use with students.

Turn uncomfortable, sensitive topic discussions in your classroom into a learning tool for developing critical thinking skills with NewseumEd's guidelines for helping you and your students discuss issues respectfully. Topics like racial tensions, politics, and religion can become a classroom learning tool to teach the art of dialogue and to increase respectful public speaking, confidence, engagement, and listening skills. Read and use the four guidelines: confidence in your content, respectfulness of your participants, asking questions, and encouraging debate, and be the best the facilitator you can be. You must be a registered NewseumEd member to access this resource; however, membership is free.

In the Classroom

Have this lesson handy when a controversial or contentious subject emerges. You just never know when that will happen, but you can run with it if you prepare using these NewseumEd guidelines. Share them with students, so they will understand what they need to do to participate successfully in a discussion or debate. Are there no issues at hand? Try finding one using Teachable Moments, reviewed here. At Teachable Moments find lesson plans based on articles and current topics, ready for download in PDF format. Try giving students a choice! Show them several subjects and use Dotstorming, reviewed here, to comment and vote on topics for the discussion. Use the opportunity to hone students information literacy skills by reviewing how to evaluate and cite sources. Once they have researched their topic, and are ready to discuss, use a tool such as Socratic Smackdown, reviewed here, to practice their discussion and argument strategies. With older students, a next step might be to take the debate public using Virtual Debate, reviewed here, which has online examples and resources for conducting virtual debates, or ProConIt, reviewed here, where you create a debate or ask specific questions of a group or the entire web.